Cut and Dry
by Legal Canary
Summary: first fanfic. reid avers learns what she is made of at marauder era hogwarts
1. Chapter 1

Reid stepped onto the Quidditch pitch, adrenaline rushing through her veins. She glanced at her teammates circling above her before kicking off on her broomstick. Reid catapulted into the sky, her robes and brown hair billowing around her.

She grinned at Black, a beater from the opposing team. He was the only Gryffindor she could tolerate, frankly, and she didn't see that changing any time soon.

"Always waiting for you, Avers! Get your bloody act together will you?" scolded the captain as he whizzed past behind her. Madame Van Camp blew her whistle to signal the start of the match, and Reid forgot about everything except her sport. Other players got caught up in House rivalries and personal vendettas, which drove Reid crazy. She was a Quidditch purist.

Reid was a seeker, and spent much of any given game scanning the clouds for a glint of gold, while keeping a safe distance from stray bludgers. Suddenly, a tiny blur whizzed past her and she sprang to life. Focusing intently on the snitch barely out of grasp, she barreled down the pitch. She was paying so much attention to her target that she didn't see the bludger that Black had sent her way. It caught her on the shoulder, and sent her broom spiraling out of control.

The bludger tore the sleeve of her robe clear off, but Reid struggled to get back on the trail of the snitch. She didn't glance down, and flinched at the searing pain in her left arm, which still gripped her broom tightly. The snitch wasn't two feet in front of her, and without a second thought, she leapt after it, fully leaving her broom.

She caught the snitch, and then realized the mistake she had made. Reid plummeted to the lawn below, clutching at air with her free hand and finding nothing to break her fall.

From across the pitch, Lucius had watched her dive for the snitch. Black was the first to notice from Gryffindor; Potter was, of course, nowhere to be found. Lucius stared between Black and Avers, still unsure if she saw the bludger headed her way. When it became obvious that she hadn't, Lucius hurtled toward her, way too late.

The bludger caught her arm, and immediately blood was clearly visible on her now bare skin. He hesitated only a second, when he saw her resume the chase of the golden snitch, but then pursued her just as adamantly as before. He watched her, slack jawed, as she dove off her broomstick after the snitch, and raced toward her even faster.

Lucius flew to where Reid was about to hit the ground, hard, and caught her in his arms. He landed quickly and set her on the ground.

Reid glanced up at Lucius amusedly. He was panting, trying very hard to return to his calm, cool, collected self. She held up the snitch and winked at him. "Nice catch, Malfoy. But, I'm still taking all the credit for getting the snitch!"

Madame Van Camp ran onto the field and signaled for the end of the match. Groans from the Gryffindor section at another Slytherin victory could be heard, along with roars of approval from Reid's Housemates.

Madame Van Camp collected the snitch from Reid, who was still sitting on the ground. "I urge you to try much less dangerous maneuvers next time, Ms. Avers. Your stunts are going to get you hurt!" she chided.

Meanwhile, Lucius had stalked angrily over to Sirius Black, who had just landed, chatting with James Potter. His long blond mane nearly glowed with the intensity that he exuded. "Black, what do you think you're playing at? You nearly killed her!" he fumed. Sirius took out his wand, sick of being around Lucius, ready to fight.

"It's part of the _game_, Lucius" Reid drawled, placing a hand on Malfoy's shoulder. "I'm fine, anyway. Good game, Potter." She nodded. "See you around, Sirius." Reid turned around and walked away, back to the locker rooms with the other girls. Lucius' glare had softened slightly with Reid's touch, but resumed its strength as soon as the 6th year Avers had left.

"Watch yourself, Black." Lucius muttered through his teeth, and made his way past the Gryffindors to where his broom lay on the ground. Sirius rolled his eyes at James and shrugged. "What's the deal with her, then?" James asked pointing over his shoulder to where Avers had disappeared into the girls' locker room.

"Lucius' girlfriend? She's a family friend, of sorts." James raised his eyebrows, knowing full well the kind of company the Black family kept. "No, Prongs. She's not like them."

"Whatever. She's still a Slytherin." James replied.

Reid sat in the Slytherin common room, absentmindedly writing a scroll for Transfiguration. She didn't look up when the portrait door opened, but was immediately made aware of who had entered. He approached her from behind and placed his hands on her shoulders. He traced the freshly healed wound on her left arm. "How are you?" he whispered in her ear.

"Lucius, I'm fine!" Reid replied, turning around to look him in the eyes. To her shock and dismay, it wasn't Lucius at all, but Severus Snape. Severus was Lucius' biggest fan, which made Reid the unwanted recipient of much of Snape's attention.

"You know, He wants you to join. He asks about you at the meetings." Reid knew exactly what Snape was talking about, but there was no polite way to say that she would never become a Death Eater. She returned to her scroll, and tried to get back to work, pushing the troubling thoughts from her head. Just then, a group of 5th year girls traipsed into the common room, filling the silence with chatter and gossip. Snape left Reid to her work and moved on to the dormitory.

Reid's reasons for not becoming a Death Eater were a lot less admirable than they should've been. She was a Pureblood, rare in the wizarding community nowadays, and her whole life she had been respected and esteemed for nothing except her lineage. It didn't matter to anyone how good she was at Quidditch, or how many Outstandings she had gotten on her O.W.L.S., because to them, she was even on the same level as Narcissa Black. Sirius' cousin Narcissa could barely hold her wand properly, let alone ace any Hogwarts classes.

Reid didn't like the idea of being on equal footing with people like Narcissa. Nothing could make her join Voldemort, if she wasn't going to be acknowledged for her exemplary prowess as a witch.

Sirius Black stared gloomily at his reflection in the window of the Gryffindor boy's dormitory.

"Aw, don't look so down. You'll get them next time, Padfoot!" Remus Lupin tried to cheer up his best friend.

"Wha-? Oh. No, it's not that. I got another letter from Reggie." Sirius showed the sheet of parchment to his friend with a sullen look on his face.

Regulus Black, Sirius' brother had certainly disowned him, like the rest of the Blacks. However, Regulus couldn't be as cruel as everyone else, and the brothers regularly corresponded. Regulus had to spend lots of time at home now that Mrs. Black was getting sick, and she didn't trust anyone else to run the household.

Regulus' letters were informative of life at home, and kept Sirius in the loop of the Death Eaters. The latest note was particularly disturbing to Sirius, having mentioned Reid Avers. Regulus wrote that Voldemort was getting extremely agitated that Reid hadn't joined, and was putting all of the other plans on hold until he had enlisted her. It was making the Death Eaters nervous that Voldemort wasn't as concerned about their well being anymore, and that they may be vulnerable to the Ministry officials.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks so much for reviewing, FishAndMenCanLiveTogether! You're awesome!

The next day, during Herbology, the Slytherins and Gryffindors were working in pairs with mandrakes. The professor named all the pairs before returning to his own study of a volatile looking flower. Severus and Sirius were paired together, as were Reid and James.

"I'll go get the tools," Reid said after tossing her notes and quill on the chair next to James. She ambled over to the cabinet, and rummaged in a drawer for what she needed. Turning around to go back to the desk, Reid nearly knocked into Sirius. "Watch out!" she gasped, as a glass vial slipped through her fingers and shattered on the conservatory floor. Bending down to clean it up, she cursed her clumsiness. Sirius' face appeared next to hers as he knelt down beside her. "You're not going to join, are you?" he whispered. She paused, looking up long enough to see that no one was paying attention. Reid shook her head mutely. "I couldn't." Sirius seemed happy with this answer, and leapt away, grabbing some supplies from the cabinet and returning to work with Snape. Reid collected the shards and reconnected them with her wand.

"Took you long enough" sneered James, who had already started working. Reid sighed, as she didn't want to start a fight with James. While they examined the mandrake, she stole glances at what Severus and Sirius were up to.

At one point, Severus shouted very loudly, "Look what you've done now, you good-for-nothing Blood Traitor!" causing the whole class to jump. Snape was pointing furiously at the parchment crammed with notes, an overturned ink bottle spilling its contents and soaking through to the desk below. "Relax, Snivellus." Sirius replied coolly, pointing his wand at the mess, and cleaning it in an instant. The next second, he was walking out of the greenhouse with a stony expression on his face.

Reid excused herself, leaving poor Remus to restrain James from throttling Snape. She ran quickly out to the grounds, where she had seen Sirius disappear to. Reid pivoted around, searching for an indication of where Sirius was now. She edged toward the Forbidden Forest, picking up her pace when she heard a rustling up ahead of her. "Sirius! He was just trying to upset you. Look, I've been meaning to-" she waded through the dense undergrowth, squinting in the sudden darkness for a glimpse of Sirius.

"Meaning to… what, exactly?" he asked, suddenly right next to her. Looking into his eyes, Reid saw that Sirius was not upset, but enraged. Touching his shoulder, she forced herself to look into his expressive brown eyes. "Meaning to tell you what a complete and total prat you're being!" she shoved him. "Since when is it any of your business where my loyalties lie?" Sirius' expression turned from interested to incredulous as what Reid had said sank in.

At dusk, the Slytherins could be found in their common room, either belittling the other houses or rehashing the day's events. Reid put the finishing touches on her Potions essay and leaned into Malfoy's strong shoulder next to her on the couch. He stiffened slightly at the contact, and then relaxed. Lucius seemed agitated all evening in the common room; ignoring Crabbe and Snape's attention. "What's wrong?" she crooned into his ear.

"Come with me." He answered. She wasn't entirely excited about this, but Reid followed him out of the common room, treading quietly down the hallway and holding his hand. Lucius led the way out to the grounds. When they stepped outside, Reid pulled her cloak around her shoulders, noticing how she could see her breath in the light from the full moon above them. Lucius pulled her closer to him as he escorted her in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

"Why do we have to come all the way out here to talk?" Reid asked, once Lucius had stopped walking. She recognized this particular clearing as the place where she had talked to Sirius earlier that day. It felt strange to be there twice in the same day, considering she was technically not allowed to be in the Forest at all. "This" Lucius rolled up the left sleeve of his robe, showing an all too familiar tattoo seared into the skin of his forearm. "He wants you, Reid." He waited for this to sink in, searching her eyes for comprehension. She didn't look at his face, and instead stared fixedly at the large full moon.

They had never discussed Voldemort before. "How does he know anything about me?" she whispered. Reid already knew the answer. She knew Voldemort could find out anything he wanted to know with the snap of a finger, but she didn't want to believe he knew so much about her. "Well, he asked me, and I'm not about to lie to him… I mean he's the goddamn Dark Lord, Reid! Aren't you excited? We can work together; he said so. It would be perfect for us." Reid had never doubted Lucius before, and she hated that she was doing it now, but his offer was too good to be true. Reid knew she could never be a Death Eater. She didn't hate muggles and mudbloods enough to ever just kill them out of spite.

"I'll think about it, okay?" she smiled weakly, and prayed that he would change the subject before she had to be any more decisive out loud. "That's all he wants." Lucius replied and kissed her softly. Reid pushed away after a second, tensing at a strange new sound. It was definitely growling. She whipped around, but not soon enough. A massive silhouette bounded out from between the trees and overtook Reid easily. She screamed and reached for her wand while trying to get out from under the creature. A flash of light, and the beast whimpered as it was thrown off of her. She didn't want to open her eyes, but finally found her wand, laying on the ground near her hip. "What the hell was that?" she gasped. Lucius chased after the animal, beast, whatever… and she was left alone in the clearing.

Reid sat up and examined herself, checking for bites and scratches from whatever it was that attacked her. After deciding everything was all good and well, relatively, she got up and dusted herself off. Movement from somewhere in the trees around her made her nervous again. She had her wand now, so she knew she could fight back, but she was worried that Lucius had been hurt. She ducked behind a tree and dropped out of sight when the figure rushed into the clearing. It was none other than Sirius Black, who dropped to his knees gasping and spluttering. He hadn't noticed her, and ripped off his shirt, using it to wipe up blood pooling on his back. She gasped, giving away her presence, and he warily turned around. The wounds on his back were huge and disgusting. "Re-Reid? What the fuck are you doing here?" As she started to explain, Sirius leapt up and grabbed her hand. "Neverminddoesn'tmatter. Youneedtogobacktothecastlenow." He said in one breath, dragging her out of the Forest. "What about Lucius?" she cried as he gripped her arm tightly. Sirius stopped for a second, as it dawned on him that Lucius was probably more of a problem than Reid. A jet of purple light answered her question for her, as Sirius groaned and dropped to the ground next to her and Lucius stepped out of the forest and advanced upon them. Reid glanced down at poor Sirius, who was clutching his back and muttering obscenities. Then, she looked back to Malfoy and sighed with relief.

"Oh, Lucius! I thought you had been hurt! I'm so glad-" Reid began, but Lucius wasn't even listening to her. He marched up to Sirius and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him up to look him in the face. "What are you playing at, Blood Traitor? What were you doing in the Forest?" Lucius shook with fury, and Sirius just stared at him, a dazed look on his dirty face.

"Don't call him that." Reid said, lacing every word with malice. She hated this side of Lucius. Normally, he knew better than to let her see it.

Malfoy was shocked; Reid had never looked at him like that. Sirius just stared between Reid and Malfoy, completely unsure of what would happen next. Finally, Lucius loosened his grip on Sirius, and the Gryffindor staggered away. Sirius came to a stop a few feet away, massaging his shoulder and glancing, frustrated, at the Forest. He really had no business with either of the Slytherins, but something inside him wouldn't let him leave them alone together.

"I'm going back to the dormitory, Lucius." Reid snapped. "By yourself?" Lucius retorted hastily. Reid looked like she was reconsidering, and he scoffed, ready to escort her back to the common room like nothing had happened. "No. Of course not. I'm bringing Sirius." Reid grinned and took Sirius' hand in hers. Disbelief and shock on Lucius' face soon turned to rage as he was left standing alone on the edge of the forest.

They walked in silence until they reached the entrance hall. Reid stopped suddenly, and turned to Sirius. "About this…" she said quietly, placing a hand on his back, which was still bloody and grotesque. With a wave of her wand, his flesh began to heal and warmth came over his whole torso. "Wow. You're awesome. Thanks." He touched his back and marveled at how quickly she was able to heal it. "But, I really should get back. I- I left something in the Forest." Sirius turned to leave, but Reid grabbed his shoulder. "Don't go back out there now. At least wait until Lucius has come back inside. He can be a little… unruly… when he's upset." She warned. With that, Reid turned and began to make the cautious journey back to her own dormitory.


	3. Chapter 3

After a few minutes, Sirius decided to take his chances and returned outside. He was a little surprised not to have run into Malfoy, but he couldn't have cared less. Malfoy was not difficult to handle if Sirius felt like playing dirty. However, he hated to fight in front of girls. It must've been his upbringing. Yeah… that _had_ to be it, he chuckled to himself. By the time he located James, the sun had entered the sky behind the eastern mountains. James was livid with Black for leaving him all alone with Remus all night. Taking care of a werewolf was hard work for two animagi, but for one it was nearly impossible.

"Where were you all night?" James accused. Sirius explained how he had to get the Slytherins out of the Forest before they caused any problems, and how things had escalated, and James nodded through it all. When Sirius had finished his story, however, James looked perplexed. "Damn. That must've sucked, Padfoot. I can't wait until I get my hands on Malfoy. He'll pay for this!" James muttered protectively. "I'll deal with it, Prongs. Don't worry." Sirius placed a restraining hand on his friend's shoulder. "Yeah, I guess you should get the glory, right? That bird of his seems to always cause trouble for you, doesn't she? What a pain." James added. "Yeah. Total pain in the arse." Sirius answered, halfheartedly.

Reid was definitely not a pain to Black. In fact, he actually respected her. Fancy that, a Gryffindor actually liking a Slytherin! Sirius remembered how she healed his back for him. Her touch was so gentle; it was unexpected coming from anyone from that house.

Lucius never returned to the common room that night. Instead, he took a trip off-castle grounds. Malfoy visited Voldemort. The Dark Lord wasn't surprised to see him, and welcomed him in, offering him tea. "She said she'd think about it." Lucius said guardedly, waiting for the backlash. "That wasn't the answer you were supposed to get." Voldemort seemed relatively calm, which made Lucius even more nervous. "It looks to me like you are confused. You work for me. No one else, Malfoy. Not her, and certainly not yourself. I don't care what measures you have to take, you are going to make her a Death Eater. That doesn't necessarily require being a good boyfriend, do you understand?" Voldemort glared down at Lucius, silently communicating that this was his final shot.

Reid didn't fall asleep easily once she got back to the dormitory. Thinking about everything that had happened that day kept her up for hours. She had a pretty good idea about what, or more 'who,' attacked her in the Forest, but she thought it would be better if she just kept it to herself. Reid also worried about Lucius. Sometimes he could be so horrible… but then again, you don't have to like someone all the time to love them. She wondered how tightly Voldemort had him wrapped around his finger. Would she be safe with him, now that he knew she wasn't enthusiastic about being a Death Eater? Reid's mind kept bringing her in circles, and before she knew it, the sun was coming through the drapes of her four poster.

At breakfast the next morning, Lucius apologized, offering no details about his disappearing act the night before. Reid didn't mention her walk back to the castle with Sirius either, hoping things could get back to normal between them. And they did. Reid immersed herself in preparation for the upcoming N.E.W.T.s. Lucius was afraid to bring up the Death Eaters; he knew that he could always use N.E.W.T.s as an excuse for Voldemort. The weeks passed by quickly, and soon enough, Reid was packing for semester break. She stood in front of her trunk, trying to remember what else she might need to bring home. She frowned and concluded that she had everything, and ambled down to the common room. "Did you get an invitation to Lestrange's wedding?" Lucius asked, brandishing a piece of gold parchment enchanted with gold confetti and classical music. Reid laughed at his disgusted face as he crumpled it up and kicked it under the table. "Yessssss..." she sighed. Bellatrix Black was one of her least favorite people in the world. When she was still at Hogwarts, Bella would constantly tease Reid. She knew she was probably only invited out of politeness, and wasn't exactly thrilled about the wedding. "You know, I could really use a date." Lucius winked. "I wonder who I'll ask…" he looked around the common room to emphasize, and Reid folded her arms. "Good luck with that, then!" she huffed sarcastically. Lucius smiled at her and took her into his arms. "I wouldn't think of going with anyone else. But, Rudolphus asked me to be in the bridal party, so I might not get to sit with you."

"That's fine. I'll probably be with my parents anyway. You know how they can be. They want to hear my life story every time I see them." Lucius kissed Reid and she went back up to her dorm to pack a few beauty essentials for the wedding. It would, after all, take place over semester break, and she didn't want to have to use her mom's makeup.

Reid and Lucius boarded the Hogwarts Express together, and Lucius went ahead to find a compartment for them while Reid said goodbye to some Slytherin girls who envied her for going to the wedding. The only ones leaving on the train were those invited to Bellatrix and Rudolphus' nuptials, and they were from the richest of the pureblood families. As she moved on to find Lucius, she had an eerie feeling that there was someone else in the narrow compartment with her. She stopped walking and looked around, squinting, knowing that there was no one there that she could see. "I know I'm not crazy," she murmured, waiting for whoever it was to reveal themselves. "Come on, Avers. You know they'd kick my ass if they knew I was on the train. This just makes it easier for everyone." Came a whisper from behind her. She wheeled around, still not facing anything, but if she looked really hard, she could distinguish the outline of an invisibility cloak. "Smooth, Black. But don't tell me you're going to try to get into the wedding." She looked skeptically at the fuzzy transparent shape in front of her. "Course not. I need to pick up a few things from the house, and I figured everyone would be tied up with Bellatrix's latest cry for attention." "Suit yourself," Reid replied and left Sirius to find Lucius' compartment.

The actual ceremony was vomit-worthy, Reid decided. Rudolphus' best man had been taken into Azkaban the previous day, so Lucius was promoted on short notice. Reid thought he filled the role perfectly, and nearly swooned when he mouthed 'I love you' to her from the altar. Bellatrix was nauseating to watch as she wept through her vows, dabbing at her eyes with her wand to dry the tears every couple of seconds.

Once the reception came, Reid couldn't have been happier for an excuse to get away for a few minutes. She went to the women's loo and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Engrossed in making faces at herself, Reid didn't notice when Regulus Black, of all people, walked in and started laughing.

"What the hell? This is the WOMEN'S lavatory, Reg!" she cried, embarrassed that he saw her making those ridiculous faces. "I know. But, it was worth it if I get to see this!" he replied, imitating her faces. She couldn't help laughing at him, and she walked out of the room with Regulus behind her. "Wait!" he said, and she turned around. "You talk to Sirius at school, don't you?" he asked, lowering his voice to a whisper. She nodded, and he handed her a small box, barely the size of an inkpot. "Give it to him, will you?" Regulus pleaded. Again, Reid nodded, and put the box in her purse.

When she returned to the reception hall, she looked around for Lucius. A very drunk Rudolphus pointed her in the direction of the patio, and she walked out, searching for Malfoy.

Reid's expectant smile immediately turned to slack-jawed horror as she took in the scene before her. No, no, no. She thought she must have gotten it wrong. But she hadn't. Lucius was leaning across a candlelit table, kissing Narcissa Black. When they finally noticed her presence, Narcissa was the first one to push away. Blushing profusely, she began to offer an explanation. Her words fell on deaf ears as Reid couldn't take her eyes off of Lucius. What infuriated her was that he looked as calm and detached as ever. Not even guilty. He stared back into her eyes, offering not so much as an apology.

He broke his stare and turned to the door from which Reid had come. There was a loud commotion coming from inside, and the three ran to the door to see what had happened.

Lucius was the first to react, grabbing his wand and quickly jumping into the crowd. The scene was almost too much to take for Reid.

The whole room was a mass of screaming confusion and explosions. Aurors had broken into the private reception with the hopes of catching a few Death Eaters. Of course, the accused had fought back, and now there was chaos. Reid knew she had to get out of there, so she took her first instinct and returned outside to the patio. She ran across the manicured lawn in her tight fitting formal robe and lost her shoes somewhere along the way. Looking back, she saw fireballs smashing through the windows, and more people running outside. The Black home wasn't too far, and she knew everyone would be too caught up to look for her there. All this, and she still had no idea what she was going to do about Lucius and Narcissa!


End file.
